Born A Martyr's Birth

“The whole life of Christ was a continual Passion; others die Martyrs, but Christ was born a Martyr… His birth and his death were but one continual act, and his Christmas-day and his Good Friday, are but the evening and morning of one and the same day.”

—John Donne, Christmas sermon

Servant to the Poor

Believe from Harmony of Hearts on Vimeo.

Son of God became Man that Men May Become Sons of God

Having become with us the Son of Man,
He has made us with himself sons of God.
By his own descent to the earth
He has prepared our ascent to heaven.
Having received our mortality,
He has bestowed on us his immortality.
Having undertaken our weakness,
He has made us strong in his strength.
Having submitted to our poverty,
He has transferred to us his riches.
Having taken upon himself the burden of unrighteousness
With which we were oppressed,
He has clothed us with his righteousness.

- John Calvin

God in Heaven OR Heaven in God?

“The Scriptures constantly teach that man’s only true happiness is in God, and that his full happiness in God cannot be attained in this life, but that believing men have that happiness assured to them in the life to come. Commenting on John 14:6, Godet says, ‘Jesus here substitutes the Father for the Father’s house. For it is not in heaven that we are to find God, but in God that we are to find heaven.’”

Alexander Whyte, An Exposition on the Shorter Catechism, page 137.

The Cost of Christian Convictions

It Will Cost You Everything from I'll Be Honest on Vimeo.

Why I love Youth Ministry

7 Reasons I Love Youth Ministry

Thursday, Oct 8, 2009

(By Austin Duncan)

* Austin serves as the High School Pastor at Grace Church.

I love student ministry because:

1. I love evangelism (Matt 28:19). The wise youth minister is an evangelist at heart and desires to see young men and women give their lives to Christ. The students in our churches pose a tremendous opportunity as a mission, an unreached people group of sorts, in our own church. There are teenagers who attend from the neighborhood who have not been raised in a Christian home and who do not know Christ. There are also those raised in the church, who are unsaved and living on a faith that is not their own. These realities motivate me to fulfill the great commission specifically at a youth level. If we neglect to minister to students we lose an opportunity to preach the gospel.

2. Leadership is influence. It is a matter of fact that young people are easy to influence. Marketers use this for profit, schools further their agendas, and too often their influence over teenagers leads them away from the things of God and into worldliness. It gives me joy to take part in the same ministry of Paul as I seek to influence teenagers to follow Jesus Christ. Paul urged to the Corinthians to “be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). The joy is found in the fruit of watching students begin to imitate Christ. Not only do they become good followers of their leaders, but they themselves become influencers of students around them. What a ministry to be a part of! Leadership is influence, and youth leaders must remember that their lives and words are being watched and followed, this is a significant responsibility before God.

3. I love the church. As pastors we are called “to shepherd the flock of God among us” (1 Peter 5:2). There are none excluded from the flock of God because of age or level of spiritual maturity. This means that we have a responsibility to shepherd each person the Lord has entrusted to our churches, from the youngest to the oldest. I love shepherding God’s flock. Youth Ministers are often understood to be on the sidelines of real ministry. Their role is sadly seen as keeping the teenagers busy and distracted. Yet, because ‘Student Ministry’ is ‘Ministry,’ we know that it is useless apart from following God’s guidelines to ministry. This includes preaching the Word (2 Tim 4:2), confronting students’ hearts with the Truth, pleading with them to be saved, and discipling those God has regenerated. This type of ministry is vital for our youth. Teenagers are not the church of tomorrow (though they will be that as well) they are part of our church now. If they are saved, they are to be using their gifts for the benefit of the body and the glory of God.

4. Youthfulness is an asset. It provides an opportunity to teach biblical singleness (1 Corinthians 7). Teenagers are single for the immediate future. The biblical implications of this are important. Singleness is a gift from the Lord and is to be used for service to the body. If teenagers can own this truth now, they are a tremendous asset to kingdom work. Since they are unfettered by married responsibilities they are able to use their time, talents, and resources for the good of God’s people in a way that expresses single minded devotion to God.

5. I love the family. The family is an institution created and blessed by God. Wise ministry to teenagers never excludes the role of parents. Youth ministry that isolates itself from the family cuts itself off from God’s appointed primary means of discipleship. I am called to shepherd teenagers and their families. This means that that my first application point in discipling teenagers and talking about their obedience to Christ is asking them about their obedience to their parents (Eph 6:1). Youth Ministers should strive to be partners with Christian parents, complementing their years of parenting and reinforcing Biblical wisdom.

6. I love the hope of their maturity. Colossians 1:28-29 encourages me to minister to students in such a way that spiritual progress will take place in their lives. I love seeing Christ’s maturing, sanctifying work in teenagers whose lives are devoted to Christ. Our goal is the same for every person in church regardless of their age. There is great joy in seeing God’s people grow in their likeness to our Lord.

7. I love the thought of their potential. It gladdens my heart to minister to those who are the future members, ministers, deacons and elders of our church. I look out at the young faces in our high school service on Sundays and see that ahead of them are life’s greatest blessings and challenges. Trials, temptations, battles, and joys await them. This is the outset of their walks with Christ. It is in these initial years they have the opportunity to learn spiritual disciplines they will benefit from for the rest of their lives.
Reflecting on this list, I love student ministry because I love Ministry. Student ministry fails if it is not purposed on a biblical philosophy of ministry, rooted in the local church, and riveted on God’s purpose of reaching the lost and building his church. That is an unshakable purpose. And that is why I love student ministry.

Logic

Some notes from Peter Kreeft’s Socratic Logic (pp. 28-33):

There are three kinds of thoughts, or three acts of the mind:

1. Simple apprehension [understanding a simple term--e.g., "man"]
2. Judging [relating two concepts by predicating one term of the other--e.g., "man is mortal"]
3. Reasoning [relating two or more judgments with a conclusion--e.g., "man is mortal; I'm a man; therefore I'm mortal"]

These three acts of the mind result in three mental products:

1. Concepts (the products of conceiving)
2. Judgments (the products of judging)
3. Arguments (the products of reasoning, or arguing)

Expressed logically these are:

1. Terms
2. Propositions
3. Arguments (most commonly, syllogisms)

These logical entities answer the three most fundamental questions:

1. A term answers what something is.
2. A proposition answers whether something is.
3. An argument answers why it is.

These logical entities also reveal three aspects of reality:

1. Terms reveal essences (what something is).
2. Propositions reveal existence (whether something is).
3. Arguments reveal causes (why something is).

These logical entities can be judged logically good or logically bad:

1. Terms are either clear or unclear (=ambiguous).
2. Propositions are either true or false.
3. Arguments are either valid or invalid.

To make a convincing argument you have to fulfill all three of the following conditions:

1. Your terms are clear.
2. Your premises are true.
3. Your logic is valid.

If you want to critique someone’s argument, you have to show an error in just one of the following:

1. They are using a term ambiguously.
2. They are using a false premise.
3. They are committing a logical fallacy (i.e., the argument is invalid; the conclusion does not follow from the premises).

Resist Temptation!

Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.

How Cain and Abel's Worship Demonstrates a Call to Missions

R. Ortlund writes:

Both Cain and Abel worshiped the Lord. Both brought Him offerings. But the Lord rejected Cain's worship and accepted Abel's. Why?

Not because Abel's was a blood-offering while Cain's was "of the fruit of the ground." The law authorized grain offerings (e.g., Leviticus 2).

Hebrews 11:4 tells us that Abel's worship was acceptable to God because it was "by faith." And "whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him" (Hebrews 11:6). Acceptable worship throbs with a heart-conviction that God is real and rewarding.

Cain did not worship God with the psychology of faith. His gift was safe: "Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground" (Genesis 4:3). He worshiped God out of his income from past labors.

Abel worshiped God with the psychology of faith. His gift was risky: "Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions" (Genesis 4:4). He gave to the Lord from his breeding stock and from their best parts. He worshiped God out of his chances for the future, out of his capital.

When God rejected Cain's worship, he took his anger out on his brother. Murder in the cathedral (T. S. Eliot). The beginning of the divide between the true and false people of God who otherwise mingle together.

It is good to run from safe, no-risk worship. It is good to worship God with a practical demonstration that He alone is the future our hearts will be happy with.

"Let us offer to God acceptable worship" (Hebrews 12:28).

I am like Cain in that my strategy for worshipping God with my life involves job-related ministry and plans for service upon retirement. That means there is zero risk involved in my plans. Zero risk involves zero faith.

God make me like Abel with my very life, giving you the first-fruit of everything with zero guarantee that there will be more.

John Piper Discusses Spiritual Leadership

John Piper discusses spiritual leadership here.

Religious Relativism Creeps into the Church

This week, Newsweek magazine observes the rising trend towards religious relativism and ascertains that "We Are All Hindus Now"

Dr. A. Mohler of SBTS picks up on this article and responds to it here

Paul, Hell and Preaching

What role did warnings of eternal damnation have in Paul's evangelistic preaching? What would we surmise about Hell based on the book of Acts alone? I am wrestling with this question because the fullest treatment of hell in Pauline epistles is directed to believers, not unbelievers. Seems that this is also true of Jesus' warnings in the Gospels - directed to the religious not the irreligious.

After surveying the gospels, Acts and the epistles, the next best resource is Doug Moo's treatment of the subject here.

Last Minute Conversions

"God gave us one last minute conversion in Scripture so that no one would despair, but only one so that no one would presume."

- A Puritan proverb

Appraising and Applying the Gospel

T. Brister provides a fine collection of documents appraising and applying the gospel here

Dwayne Tryumf

An Exposition of My Most Cherished Verse

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

God so charged Christ, implicated him, loaded him with our sin, that at the cross he was treated as if he embodied our sin, so that we, just because we are in Christ and for no other reason, might be treated as if we embodied the righteousness of God, perfectly fulfilling his law, receiving the smile and welcome of the Judge.

It is finished.

HT: Handley C. G. Moule

John Piper on Penal Substitutionary Atonement

“God requires two things of us: punishment for our sins and perfection in our lives. Our sins must be punished, and our lives must be righteous. But we cannot bear our own punishment, and we cannot provide our own righteousness. Therefore, God, out of His immeasurable love for us, provided his own Son to do both. Christ bears our punishment, and Christ performs our righteousness. And When we receive Christ, all of his punishment and all of his righteousness is counted as ours.”

John Piper

The Gospel vs. Moralism vs. Relativism

“The gospel shows us that God is far more holy and absolute than the moralists’ god, because he could not be satisfied by our moral efforts, even the best! On the other hand, the gospel shows us that God is far more loving and gracious than the relativists’ god. They say that God (if he exists) just loves everyone no matter what they do. The true God of the gospel had to suffer and die to save us, while the god of the relativist pays no price to love us.”

-Tim Keller

Call to Missions

One of the Best Reasons to Study Physics

Extreme Pool Jump - Watch a funny movie here

Praying in Jesus' Name

“Imagine that your prayer is a poorly dressed beggar reeking of alcohol and body odor, stumbling toward the palace of the great king. You have become your prayer. As you shuffle toward the barred gate, the guards stiffen. Your smell has preceded you. You stammer out a message for the great king: ‘I want to see the king.’

Your words are barely intelligible, but you whisper one final word, ‘Jesus, I come in the name of Jesus.’ At the name of Jesus, as if by magic, the palace comes alive. The guards snap to attention, bowing low in front of you. Lights come on, and the door flies open. You are ushered into the palace and down a long hallway into the throne room of the great king, who comes running to you and wraps you in his arms.

The name of Jesus gives my prayers royal access. They get through. Jesus isn’t just the Savior of my soul. He’s also the Savior of my prayers. My prayers come before the throne of God as the prayers of Jesus. ‘Asking in Jesus’ name’ isn’t another thing I have to get right so my prayers are perfect. Is it one more gift of God because my prayers are so imperfect.”

—Paul Miller, A Praying Life (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress 2009), 135

Christ Is More Powerful

“Christ is much more powerful to save than Adam was to destroy.”

- John Calvin, Commentary on Romans, Collected Works

All Of History Is a Manifestation of Christ's Love

“There is no other solution to the marvellous mysteries of His Incarnation and Sacrificial Death but this: Christ has loved us.

There is not a circumstance of our Lord’s history which is not another form or manifestation of love.

His incarnation is love stooping.
His sympathy is love weeping.
His compassion is love supporting.
His grace is love acting.
His teaching is the voice of love.
His silence is the repose of love.
His patience is the restraint of love.
His obedience is the labor of love.
His suffering is the travail of love.
His cross is the altar of love.
His death is the burnt offering of love.
His resurrection is the triumph of love.
His ascension into heaven is the enthronement of love.
His sitting down at the right hand of God is the intercession of love.

Such is the deep, the vast, the boundless ocean of Christ’s love!”

—Octavius Winslow, The Sympathy of Christ

The Cross Is Not Simply An Example of Love

“The cross is not simply a lovely example of sacrificial love. Throwing your life away needlessly is not admirable — it is wrong. Jesus’ death was only a good example if it was more than an example, if it was something absolutely necessary to rescue us. And it was. Why did Jesus have to die in order to forgive us? There was a debt to be paid — God himself paid it. There was a penalty to be born — God himself bore it. Forgiveness is always a form of costly suffering.”

- Timothy Keller, The Reason For God (New York, NY: Dutton, 2008), 193.

There is nothing you can do to harm me!

When John Chrysostom (ca. 347-407) was brought before the empress Eudoxia, she threatened him with banishment if he insisted on his Christian independence as a preacher. "You cannot banish me, for this world is my Father's house." "But I will kill you," said the empress. "No, you cannot, for my life is hid with Christ in God," said John. "I will take away your treasures." "No, you cannot, for my treasure is in heaven and my heart is there." "But I will drive you away from your friends and you will have no one left." "No, you cannot, for I have a Friend in heaven from whom you cannot separate me. I defy you, for there is nothing you can do to harm me."

The Colour of Hell

The color of hell: this is a COLOUR photograph after fire in Ejulve, Spain on July 25, 2009.

Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy's ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which he has forbidden.... An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula.... To get a man's soul and give him nothing in return—that's what really gladdens Our Father's heart.

Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

Christopher Hitchens' View of "The Good Life"

On June 2, 2009, Christopher Hitchens was a guest on Q - a show on CBC Radio - hosted by Jian Gomeshi. Gomeshi asked Hitchens, in the absence of God, what constitutes a "good life." Hitchens' answer, to me, captured the folly of atheism. He said, "Irony, literature and laughing at the misfortunes of others."

One-third of the "good life" according to Hitchens involves laughing at the misfortunes of others? How truly scary.

Billy Joel On What the World Needs

"When you listen to the radio, you hear the canned, frozen, processed flutter being dished to the world as the American kind of music. . . . I need substance in my life. And the world needs substance. The world doesn't need any more hip. Hip is dead. The world doesn't need any more cool, more clever. The world needs more substantial things. The world needs more greatness."

Billy Joel, A&E Monthly

Laughing with God

Let your sins be strong

"God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We however, says Peter (2 Peter 3:13), are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign. It suffices that through God's glory we have recognized the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day. Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins?"

Martin Luther, writing to Philip Melanchthon, 1 August 1521.

Bono's favourite word

"[Grace is] my favourite word in the lexicon of the English language. It's a word I'm depending on. The universe operates by Karma, we all know that. For every action there's an equal and opposite reaction. There is some atonement built in: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Then enters Grace and turns that upside down. I love it. I'm not talking about people being graceful in their actions but just covering over the cracks. Christ's ministry really was a lot to do with pointing out how everybody is a screw-up in some shape or form, there's no way around it. But then He was to say, well, I am going to deal with those sins for you. I will take on Myself all the consequences of sin. Even if you're not religious I think you'd accept that there are consequences to all the mistakes we make. And so Grace enters the picture to say, I'll take the blame, I'll carry the cross. It is a powerful idea. Grace interrupting Karma."

Bono, in U2 by U2, page 300.

Humility in the Wrong Place

"What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction, where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert -- himself."

G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, chapter three, "The Suicide of Thought.

Calvin and the Cross of Christ

"God declares to us that Jesus Christ, who once had his side pierced, today has his heart open, as it were, that we may have assurance of the love that he bears us; that as he once had his arms fastened to the cross, now he has them wide open to draw us to himself; and that as once he shed his blood, so today he wishes us to be plunged within it. So, when God invites us so sweetly and Jesus Christ sets before us the fruit of his death and passion, . . . let us all come to take our stand with our Lord Jesus Christ."

John Calvin, Sermons on Isaiah's Prophecy of the Death and Passion of Christ, page 82.

JC Ryle on Communion

“The man that goes regularly and intelligently to the Lord’s Table finds it increasingly hard to yield to sin and conform to the world.” JC Ryle

Ortlund Reflects on Present Day Laodicea

"You say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked." Revelation 3:17

Michael Spencer's provocative article prompts me to turn to Revelation 3:14-22. Here's the picture. You see some strange guy walking down the street of your town. You can't help but notice that he is:

1. wretched, or, "suffering, distressed, miserable" according to Liddell-Scott-Jones' Greek lexicon;

2. pitiable, or as we would say, pathetic;

3. poor, that is, beggarly, penniless;

4. blind, that is, he cannot see the obvious;

5. naked, that is, embarrassingly exposed.

So here he comes down the street, banged up from encounters with light posts and mailboxes, naked as a jaybird. You approach the poor guy and say, "Sir, may I help you?" And his answer is, "I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing." Delusional.

This was the church in Laodicea. This is too many churches today. We focus on our strengths and successes. And there is just enough good going on in our ministries that we can plausibly refuse a blunt reappraisal of our weaknesses. But the Lord is saying, "That whole mentality is wrong. It is lukewarm. It makes me want to vomit (verse 16). I am not asking you whether you hate my guts. You don't. I almost wish you did. But I am confronting you that you don't love me wholeheartedly, so that you go into repentance and reevaluation and change. Here's what you need to do: Stop telling yourself you're okay and go back into re-conversion (verse 18). Change your complacency into zealous repentance (verse 19). Hey, are you listening to me? I'm that faint voice you can barely hear any more. I'm outside your church, banging on your door. You didn't even notice when I walked out. But I'm back, one more time. If anyone in there is listening, just open the door and I will come in. I won't smack you down. I will befriend you (verse 20). The others in your church may or may not join us, but all I'm asking for is one open, honest heart."

Usually, our churches settle for half-way remedies, which is why they limp along in mediocrity. But every now and then, someone humbly opens that door, and Jesus walks in. He is ready to bless any church if anyone there is willing to start admitting, "I am not rich, I have not prospered, and I need everything."

This corny but honest old gospel song nailed it:

"Out of my bondage, sorrow and night, Jesus I come
Into thy freedom, gladness and light, Jesus I come to thee
Out of my sickness into thy health
Out of my want and into thy wealth
Out of my sin and into thyself, Jesus I come to thee."

Lord, receive even me.

R. Ortlund Jr.

A Communion Hymn

A shocking thing, this, that we should forget
The Savior who gave up his life –
To turn from the cross, indifferent, and let
Our minds veer toward self-love and strife.
The table, this rite, is habit – and yet
Christ’s words pierce our shame like a knife:

While breaking the bread, the Lord Jesus said,
“Do this in remembrance of me.”

Enamored with power, surrounded with praise,
We set out our ecclesial plans.
Efficiency hums, and we spend our days
Defending, promoting our stands.
Techniques multiply, our structures amaze –
The gospel slips out of our hands.

While breaking the bread, the Lord Jesus said,
“Do this in remembrance of me.
O remember, remember the cross.
From my side issued water and blood,
This was no accident,
I bore the wrath of my God.”

“Remember my bed, the dank cattle shed,
Though glory was all my domain.
Remember the years of service and tears
That climaxed in lashings of pain.
By God’s own decree, your guilt fell on me,
And all of my loss is your gain.”

While breaking the bread, the Lord Jesus said,
“Do this in remembrance of me.”

“Remember my tears, Gethsemene’s fears;
Recall that my followers fled,
That I was betrayed, disowned and arraigned –
The Prince of Life crucified, dead.
Remember your shame, your sin and your blame;
Remember the blood that I shed.”

While lifting the cup, the Savior spoke up,
“Do this in remembrance of me.”

So now when we eat this feast simply spread
I blush I forget to recall.
For this quiet rite means once more I have fed
On bread that gave life once for all;
Memorial feast—just wine, broken bread—
And time to reflect on Christ’s call:

While breaking the bread, the Lord Jesus said,
“Do this in remembrance of me.”

- D.A. Carson

Hermeneutics and Sunday School Lessons

John Walton, professor of OT studies at Wheaton dissects common hermeneutical errors in Sunday school lessons:

Seminaries and grad programs that train pastors, and the academics who teach in those programs are very concerned about proper hermeneutics. We want pastors to have the very best training so that God’s word is handled properly and that preaching proceeds from the authoritative teaching of the text rather than from human cleverness or tangential ideas. This is as it should be since we seek to teach with the authority of God’s Word. My question is, why do we not show the same interest in assuring that children are taught with the same care?

It has been my practice over the years to work with the Children’s education program in my church to evaluate curriculum and train teachers for the pre-school through elementary grades. What I find in curricula is consistently shocking from a hermeneutical standpoint. I should hasten to say that curricula are often excellent from an educational standpoint—for that is the expertise of those producing curriculum. In the area of hermeneutics, however, the violations of sound method are frequent and obvious. I have identified five basic fallacies that appear repeatedly:

1. Promotion of the Trivial: The lesson is based on what is a passing comment in the text (Josh 9:13, they did not consult the Lord), a casual observation about the text (Moses persevered in going back before Pharaoh over and over) or even a deduction supplied in the text (Joshua and Caleb were brave and strong). The Bible is not being properly taught if we are teaching virtues that the text does not have in focus in that passage. We would like children to be virtuous, but we dare not teach virtues rather than the Bible. The plague narratives are not teaching perseverance nor is the feeding of the multitude teaching sharing (as done by the little boy in one of the accounts).

2. Illegitimate extrapolation: The lesson is improperly expanded from a specific situation to all general situations (God helped Moses do a hard thing, so God will help you do a hard thing. But the hard thing Moses was doing was something commanded by God whereas in the lesson the hard thing becomes anything the child wants to achieve). In these cases what the text is teaching is passed by in favor of what the curriculum wants to teach and biblical authority is neglected.

3. Reading Between the Lines: This occurs when teachers or students are asked to analyze what the characters are thinking, speculate on their motives, or fill in details of the plot that the story does not give. When such speculations become the center of the lesson, the authority of the biblical teaching is lost because the teaching is centered on what the reader provided.

4. Missing important nuance: This occurs when the curriculum pinpoints an appropriate lesson but misses a connection that should be made to drive the point home accurately. It is not enough, for instance to say that God wants us to keep his rules—it is important to realize that God has given us a sense of who he is and how we ought to respond in our lives. It is not just an issue of obeying rules—God wants us to know him and respond to him by following in his ways and being like him.

5. Focus on people rather than God: The Bible is God’s revelation of himself and its message and teaching is largely based on what it tells us about God. This is particularly true of narrative (stories). While we are drawn to observe the people in the stories, we cannot forget that the stories are intended to teach us about God more than about people. If in the end, the final point is “We should/shouldn’t be like X (= some biblical character)” there is probably a problem unless the “X” is Jesus or God. Better is “we can learn through X’s story that God . . .”

If we are negligent of sound hermeneutics when we teach Bible to children, should it be any wonder that when they get into youth groups, Bible studies and become adults in the church, that they do not know how to derive the authoritative teaching from the text?

We all have a working hermeneutic, even though most have never taken a course. Where do we learn it? We learn it from those we respect. For many people this means that they learn their hermeneutics from their Sunday school teachers. Teachers in turn teach what is put into their hands. Perhaps we ought to be more attentive how Sunday school curriculum is teaching our children to find the authoritative teaching of God in the stories.

Ahhhh.... The HORROR!

But alas it was fake. Read the confession here.

Reflections on the Incarnation

“Infinite and yet an infant.
Eternal and yet born of a woman.
Almighty, and yet nursing at a woman’s breast.
Supporting a universe, and yet needing to be carried in a mother’s arms.
Heir of all things, and yet the carpenter’s despised son.”
-Charles Haddon Spurgeon


"That man should be made in God's image is a wonder,
but that God should be made in man's image is a greater wonder.
That the Ancient of Days would be born.
That He who thunders in the heavens should cry in the cradle?"
-Thomas Watson

"Idols Are Nothing"

All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.

The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”

They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” Isaiah 44:9-20

Tozer on True Faith

"The man of pseudo faith will fight for his verbal creed but refuse flatly to allow himself to get into a predicament where his future must depend upon that creed being true. He always provides himself with secondary ways of escape so he will have a way out if the roof caves in. What we need very badly these days is a company of Christians who are prepared to trust God as completely now as they know they must do at the last day."

Seven Stanzas at Easter by John Updike

Make no mistake: if He rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells’ dissolution did not reverse, the molecules
reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.

It was not as the flowers,
each soft Spring recurrent;
it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled
eyes of the eleven apostles;
it was as His Flesh: ours.

The same hinged thumbs and toes,
the same valved heart
that—pierced—died, withered, paused, and then
regathered out of enduring Might
new strength to enclose.

Let us not mock God with metaphor,
analogy, sidestepping transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the
faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the door.

The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache,
not a stone in a story,
but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow
grinding of time will eclipse for each of us
the wide light of day.

And if we will have an angel at the tomb,
make it a real angel,
weighty with Max Planck’s quanta, vivid with hair,
opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen
spun on a definite loom.

Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are
embarrassed by the miracle,
and crushed by remonstrance.

It goes from bad to absolute worst...

95 Theses the Rap

If you havin' Church problems then don't blame God, son...
I got ninety-five theses but the Pope ain't one.

Listen up, all my people, it's a story for the telling
'bout the sin and injustice and corruption I been smelling:
I met that homie Tetzel, then I started rebelling
Once I seen the fat Indulgences that he been selling.
Now the Cath'lics of the world straight up disgracin' me
Just because I waved my finger at the papacy.
My people got riled up over this Reformation...
That's when Leo threatened me with Excommunication.
I warned y'all that Rome best agree to the terms.
If not, then you can eat my Diet of Worms!
You think you done something spectacular?
I wrote the Bible in the vernacular!
A heretic! [What?] Someone throw me a bone.
You forgot salvation comes through faith alone.
I'm on a mission from God. You think I do this for fun?
I got ninety-five theses but the Pope ain't one.
Save me!

CHORUS

Ninety-five theses but the Pope ain't one.
If you havin' Church problems then don't blame God, son...
I got ninety-five theses but the Pope ain't one.

One Five One Seven... that's when it first went down.
Then the real test was when it started spreading around.
Sixty days to recant what I said? Father, please!
You've had, what? Goin' on fifteen centuries?
"Oh snap, he's messin' with the holy communion."
But I ain't never dissed your precious hypostatic union!
"One place at one time." Well, thank you Zwingli.
Yeah, way to disregard that whole "I'm God" thingy!
Getting' all up in my rosary... you little punk.
Your momma shoulda told you not to mess with no monk.
What you bumpin' me for? Suddenly you sore.
Keep that up, you'll have yourself another Peasant War.
You blame common folk for the smack they talkin'...
You ain't even taught them proper Christian doctrine.
With my hat, my Bible, and my sexy little nun,
I got ninety-five theses but the Pope ain't one.
Save me!

CHORUS

When I wrote the ninety-five, haters straight up assailed 'em.

Now they only care whether or not I nailed 'em or mailed 'em.
They got psychoanalytic. Now everyone's a critic,
And getting on my case just because I'm anti-Semitic.
I've come back from obscurity to teach y'all a lesson,
Cuz someone here still ain't read their Augsburg Confession.
I said Catholicism brings a life of excess,
And we all remember what went down with Philip of Hesse!
But you forgot about me and my demonstration?
Like you can just create your own denomination?
"We don't like this part, so we'll just add a little twist."
Now we Anglican, Amish, and even Calvinist.
I gave you the power, you gone and abused it.
I gave you God's truth, you just confused it.
Don't you never underestimate the s*** that I done...
I got 95 theses but the Pope ain't one.
Save me!

CHORUS

Shout out to Johann Gutenberg... I see you baby.

The Reformation Polka

Lyrics	Explanation
When I was just ein junger Mann I studied canon law;	Luther originally was supposed to be a lawyer.
Though Erfurt was a challenge, it was just to please my Pa.	Luther’s father Hans Luder [5] (Luther) was a mining entrepreneur who worked hard to put Martin through Law school at Erfurt University [6]. Luther did not like law school & soon dropped out.
Then came the storm, the lightning struck, I called upon Saint Anne	Luther was caught in a terrible storm wherein he thought he’d die. He prayed to the patron saint of miners, St. Anne [7] (traditionally the mother of Mary)
I shaved my head, I took my vows, an Augustinian!	Luther had vowed that if he was spared death during the storm, that he’d become a monk. He chose the Augustinian order [8], which claimed its founder as Augustine of Hippo [9] known for his very “Calvinistic [10]” teachings.
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiationi [11]	This refers to the decrees Popes (Papal) would issue called “bulls [12]” & in this case is about the specific bull [13] issued against Luther. Indulgences [14] were simply a partial payment for the remission of sins or early release from purgatory (temporary hell). In his now famous 95 Theses [15] Luther wrote against the practice of selling indulgences. Transubstantiation [16] refers to the Roman Catholic teaching that the actual presence of Christ’s blood & body inhabit the wine & bread of communioni [17]. Luther advocated something a bit different, sometimes referred to as consubstantiation [18].
Speak your mind against them and face excommunication!	Referring to Luther being removed from the Roman Catholic Church
Nail your theses to the door, let's start a Reformation!	Referring to Luther’s 95 Theses whereof it is traditionally believed he nailed them to the church door of his city, Wittenberg [19].
When Tetzel came near Wittenberg, St. Peter's profits soared	Johann Tetzel [20] was a Roman Catholic friar that was tasked to go about Europe selling Indulgences to raise money to fund the building of a church in Rome called St. Peter’s [21]. Wittenberg was Luther’s home city.
I wrote a little notice for the All Saints' Bull'tin board	Another reference to posting the 95 Theses on the church door. Tradition says that public posting were commonly nailed to a city’s church door.
You cannot purchase merits, for we're justified by grace!	Referring to Luther’s most famous teaching, “justification by faith…alone” though Luther was not the first to teach it.
Here's 95 more reasons, Brother Tetzel, in your face!"	Another reference to the 95 Theses & a poke at Tetzel
They loved my tracts, adored my wit, all were exempleror	Luther often wrote “tracts” or little booklets. These were often printed, sometimes without his urging or permission by local printers & sold to the German public. People liked his tracts because not only did they challenge the Roman Catholic authority, but were simple enough for many non-theologians to understand.
The Pope, however, hauled me up before the Emperor.	Referring to Luther’s “trial” in the city of Worms [22] before Emperor Charles V [23].
"Are these your books? Do you recant?" King Charles did demand	Referring to a call for Luther to recant his writings.
I will not change my Diet, Sir, God help me here I stand!"	A play on the fact that Luther’s “trial” was called the “Diet of Worms” [22] which simply means conference at Worms the city.
Duke Frederick took the Wise approach, responding to my words	Referring to the Duke Frederick [24], which protected Luther from the Roman Catholic Church, by refusing to hand Luther over to their authority.
By knighting "George" as hostage in the Kingdom of the Birds.	Referring to the situation where Duke Frederick had Luther disguise as a knight named George & hide in the Wartburg castle [25] for almost a year. Kingdom of the Birds refers to another time Luther was hidden away in Coburg Castle [26] during the Diet of Augsburg. Luther felt like a hostage having to hide away like this. (thanks to Fugli for correcting the Kingdom of the Birds reference)
Use Brother Martin's model if the languages you seek…Stay locked inside a castle with your Hebrew and your Greek!	Referring to Luther’s translating the Latin Bible into the language of German while in exile at Wartburg. Luther attempted to translate directly from the Hebrew & Greek.
Let's raise our steins and Concord Books while gathered in this place	Referring to German beer drinking mugs often made of metal called “steins” [27]. A Concord Book [28] is a book of Lutheran doctrines but this book was not compiled until after Luther’s death.
And spread the word that 'catholic' is spelled with lower case	Referring to the fact that the word “catholic” simply means universal – a jab at the Roman Catholic Church.
The Word remains unfettered when the Spirit gets his chance	Referring to how when the Bible is opened up for the common man, that the Spirit will work to bring about better understanding among Christians.
So come on, Katy, drop your lute, and join us in our dance!	Referring to Luther’s wife Kathrina Von Bora Luther [29]. A lute is a musical instrument.

HT: The Kingdom Come

Being Self-Righteous Regarding Not Being Self-Righteous

Tullian Tchividjian reflects on the irony of being self-righteous about not being self-righteous:

There’s an equally dangerous form of self-righteousness that plagues the unconventional, the liberal, and the non-religious types. We anti-legalists can become just as guilty of legalism in the opposite direction. What do I mean?

It’s simple: we can become self-righteous against those who are self-righteous. Many younger evangelicals today are reacting to their parents’ conservative, buttoned-down, rule-keeping flavor of “older brother religion” with a type of liberal, untucked, rule-breaking flavor of “younger brother irreligion” which screams, ”That’s right, I know I don’t have it all together and you think you do; I know I’m not good and you think you are good. That makes me better than you.” See the irony?

In other words, they’re proud that they’re not self-righteous!

Listen: self-righteousness is no respecter of persons. It reaches to the religious and the irreligious; the “buttoned down” and the “untucked.” The entire Bible reveals how shortsighted all of us are when it comes to our own sin. For example, it was easy for Jonah to see the idolatry of the sailors. It was easy for him to see the perverse ways of the Ninevites. What he couldn’t see was his own idolatry, his own perversion. So the question is, in which direction does your self-righteousness lean?

Thankfully, while our self-righteousness reaches far, God’s grace reaches farther. And the good news is, that it reaches in both directions!

The Fate of the Apostles as Evidence for the Resurrection

Michael Patton writes:

". . it is very feasible to believe that all but one of the Apostles suffered and died a martyr’s death, even if we can’t be sure of the exact details.

Amidst some uncertainty, one thing is clear—the reason given for their death was the same in all accounts. They were killed because they proclaimed to have seen Christ die and then to have seen Him alive. They all died because of an unwavering, unrelenting claim that Christ rose from the grave. They died for Easter.

Personally, in my mind, the gruesome death of the Apostles as recorded below was one of the greatest gifts that God ever gave to the Church. It contributes much to Christian apologetics by answering the “how do you know?” question concerning the resurrection of Christ."

His summary of the fate of the apostles can be found here

The Spread of the World's Major Religions

The Church as a Thermostat not a Thermometer

Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the following in his Letters from a Birmingham Jail...

"In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. But be assured that my tears have been tears of love. There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love. Yes, I love the church. How could I do otherwise? I am in the rather unique position of being the son, the grandson and the great-grandson of preachers. Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.

There was a time when the church was very powerful in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society."

Casual Sex is a Con

A child of the sexual revolution, Dawn Eden, writes:

The Sixties generation thought everything should be free. But only a few decades later the hippies were selling water at rock festivals for $5 a bottle. But for me the price of “free love” was even higher.

I sacrificed what should have been the best years of my life for the black lie of free love. All the sex I ever had — and I had more than my fair share — far from bringing me the lasting relationship I sought, only made marriage a more distant prospect.

And I am not alone. Count me among the dissatisfied daughters of the sexual revolution, a new counterculture of women who are realising that casual sex is a con and are choosing to remain chaste instead.

Martin Luther and the High Call of Parenting

Now observe that when that clever harlot, our natural reason . . . , takes a look at married life, she turns up her nose and says, “Alas, must I rock the baby, wash its diapers, make its bed, smell its stench, stay up nights with it, take care of it when it cries, heal its rashes and sores. . . ?” [LW 45:39]

But into this context Luther breathes fresh gospel air:What then does Christian faith say to this?

It opens its eyes, looks upon all these insignificant, distasteful, and despised duties in the Spirit, and is aware that they are all adorned with divine approval as with the costliest gold and jewels. It says, O God, because I am certain that thou hast created me as a man and hast from my body begotten this child, I also know for a certainty that it meets with thy perfect pleasure. I confess to thee that I am not worthy to rock the little babe or wash its diapers, or to be entrusted with the care of the child and its mother. How is it that I, without any merit, have come to this distinction of being certain that I am serving thy creature and thy most precious will? O how gladly will I do so, though the duties should be even more insignificant and despised. Neither frost nor heat, neither drudgery nor labor, will distress or dissuade me, for I am certain that it is thus pleasing in thy sight. . . . God, with all his angels and creatures is smiling—not because the father is washing diapers, but because he is doing so in Christian faith.[LW 45:39-40]

Dr. Mohler on Pornography

"Consider these two pictures. The first picture is of a man who has set himself toward a commitment to sexual purity, and is living in sexual integrity with his wife. In order to fulfill his wife’s rightful expectations and to maximize their mutual pleasure in the marriage bed, he is careful to live, to talk, to lead, and to love in such a way that his wife finds her fulfillment in giving herself to him in love. The sex act then becomes a fulfillment of their entire relationship, not an isolated physical act that is merely incidental to their love for each other. Neither uses sex as means of manipulation, neither is inordinately focused merely on self-centered personal pleasure, and both give themselves to each other in unapologetic and unhindered sexual passion. In this picture, there is no shame. Before God, this man can be confident that he is fulfilling his
responsibilities both as a male and as a man. He is directing his sexuality, his sex drive, and his physical embodiment toward the one-flesh relationship that is the perfect paradigm of God’s intention in creation.

By contrast, consider another man. This man lives alone, or at least in a context other than holy marriage. Directed inwardly rather than outwardly, his sex drive has become an engine for lust and self-gratification. Pornography is the essence of his sexual interest and arousal. Rather than taking satisfaction in his wife, he looks at dirty pictures in order to be rewarded with sexual arousal that comes without responsibility, expectation, or demand. Arrayed before him are a seemingly endless variety of naked women, sexual images of explicit carnality, and a cornucopia of perversions intended to seduce the imagination and corrupt the soul.

This man need not be concerned with his physical appearance, his personal hygiene, or his moral character in the eyes of a wife. Without this structure an accountability, he is free to take his sexual pleasure without regard for his unshaved face, his slothfulness, his halitosis, his body odor, and his physical appearance. He faces no requirement of personal respect, and no eyes gaze upon him in order to evaluate the seriousness and worthiness of his sexual desire. Instead, his eyes roam across the images of unblinking faces, leering at women who make no demands upon him, who never speak back, and who can never say no. There is no exchange of respect, no exchange of love, and nothing more than the using of women as sex objects for his individual and inverted sexual pleasure.

By logical consequence, he achieves sexual gratification at the expense of women who have been used and abused as commodified sex objects. He may imagine a sex act as he fulfills his physical pleasure, but he almost certainly does not imagine what it would mean to be responsible for this woman as husband and accountable to her as mate. He can sit in his soiled underwear, belching the remnants of last night’s pizza, and engage in a pattern of one-handed sexual satisfaction while he “surfs the net” and forfeits his soul.

These two pictures of male sexuality are deliberately intended to drive home the point that every man must decide who he will be, whom he will serve, and how he will love. In the end, a man’s decision about pornography is a decision about his soul, a decision about his marriage, a decision about his wife, and a decision about God.

Pornography is a slander against the goodness of God’s creation and a corruption of this good gift God has given his creatures out of his own self-giving love. To abuse this gift is to weaken, not only the institution of marriage, but the fabric of civilization itself. To choose lust over love is to debase humanity and to worship the false god Priapus in the most brazen form of modern idolatry."

Early Account of Penal Substitutionary Atonement

The Epistle to Diognetus written AD 130 contains the following description of PSA:

He himself took on Him the burden of our iniquities, He gave His own Son as a ransom for us, the holy One for transgressors, the blameless One for the wicked, the righteous One for the unrighteous, the incorruptible One for the corruptible, the immortal One for them that are mortal. For what other thing was capable of covering our sins than His righteousness? By what other one was it possible that we, the wicked and ungodly, could be justified, than by the only Son of God? O sweet exchange! O unsearchable operation! O benefits surpassing all expectation! that the wickedness of many should be hid in a single righteous One, and that the righteousness of One should justify many transgressors!

(ANF1, Epistle to Diognetus, chapt. 9, p. 28)

Charles Spurgeon's Strategy for Church Growth

My good ministering brother, have you got an empty church? Do you want to fill it? I will give you a good recipe, and if you will follow it, you will, in all probability, have your chapel full to the doors.

Burn all your manuscripts, that is No. 1. Give up your notes, that is No. 2. Read your Bible and preach it as you find it in the simplicity of its language. And give up all your Latinized English. Begin to tell the people what you have felt in your own heart, and beseech the Holy Spirit to make your heart as hot as a furnace for zeal. Then go out and talk to the people. Speak to them like their brother. Be a man amongst men. Tell them what you have felt and what you know, and tell it heartily with a good, bold face; and, my dear friend, I do not care who you are, you will get a congregation.

But if you say, "Now, to get a congregation, I must buy an organ."

That will not serve you a bit.

"But we must have a good choir."

I would not care to have a congregation that comes through a good choir.

"No," says another, "but really I must a little alter my style of preaching."

My dear friend, it is not the style of preaching, it is the style of feeling. People sometimes begin to mimic other preachers, because they are successful. Why, the worst preachers are those who mimic others, whom they look upon as standards preach naturally. Preach out of your hearts just what you feel to be true, and the old soul-stirring words of the gospel will soon draw a congregation. "Where the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together."

But if it ended there, what would be the good of it? If the congregation came and listened to the sound, and then went away unsaved, of what use would it be? But in the next place, Christ acts as a net to draw men unto him. The gospel ministry is, in God’s Word, compared to a fishery; God’s ministers are the fishermen, they go to catch souls, as fishermen go to catch fish.

How shall souls be caught? They shall be caught by preaching Christ. Just preach a sermon that is full of Christ, and throw it unto your congregation, as you throw a net into the sea; —you need not look where they are, nor try to fit your sermon to different cases; but, throw it in, and as sure as God’s Word is what it is, it shall not return to him void; it shall accomplish that which he pleases, and prosper in the thing whereto he hath sent it.

The gospel never was unsuccessful yet, when it was preached with the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. It is not fine orations upon the death of princes, or the movements of politics which will save souls. If we wish to have sinners saved and to have our churches increased; if we desire the spread of God’s kingdom, the only thing whereby we can hope to accomplish the end, is the lifting up of Christ; for, "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me."

Martin Luther on Prayer

If you've seen the movie Luther you no doubt will know that Luther's barber had issues... In any case, Martin Luther outlined a Biblical exposition on prayer for his barber which can be purchased here. Here is Peter Hammond's summary:

The German Reformer, Martin Luther, taught that prayer should be living, powerful, strong, mighty, earnest, serious, troubled, passionate, vehement, fervent and ardent.

Luther described prayer as: “The hardest work of all – a labour above all labours, since he who prays must wage almighty warfare against the doubt and murmuring excited by the faint-heartedness and unworthiness we feel within us…that unutterable and powerful groaning with which the godly rouse themselves against despair, the struggle in which they call mightily upon their faith.”

“Audacious prayer, which perseveres unflinchingly and ceases not through fear, is well pleasing unto God,” wrote Luther. “As a shoe maker makes a shoe, or a tailor makes a coat, so ought a Christian to pray. Prayer is the daily business of a Christian.”

REFORMING PRAYER

In 1535, Luther wrote and published: “A Simple Way To Pray,” dedicated to his barber, Peter Beskendorf. His barber had asked him for some guidelines on how he might improve his prayer life. In response, Luther wrote this 35-page book which became so popular that 4 editions were printed that first year alone.

Martin Luther has been described as one of the most dedicated men of prayer in all of history. The historical records show that Luther prayed for 3 to 4 hours each day. In the 16 th Century, the Church of Rome had buried Biblical prayer under layers of institutional, mystical and theological error. Prayer for most in the 16 th Century was a mechanical, religious rite, a legalistic work, requiring little thought. Luther worked hard to reform prayer. He spent long, solitary nights in fervent prayer and fasting.

GUIDELINES FOR PRAYER

In “A Simple Way To Pray” Luther wrote: “First, when I feel that I have become cool and joyless in prayer, because of other tasks or thoughts (for the flesh and the devil always impede and obstruct prayer), I take my Psalter, hurry to my room…and as time permits, I say quietly to myself and word for word the Lord’s Prayer, The Ten Commandments, The Apostles Creed and … some Psalms…

“It is a good thing to let prayer be your first business in the morning and the last at night. Guard yourself carefully against those false, deluding ideas that tell you, ‘wait a little while. I will pray in an hour, first I must attend to this or that’…Those who work faithfully, pray twice…Christ commands continual prayer: ask and it will be given to you, seek and you shall find; knock and it will be opened to you…pray without ceasing… we must unceasingly guard against sin and wrong doing, something one cannot do unless one fears God and keeps His Commandments…we become relaxed and lazy, cool and listless towards prayer. The devil who besets us is not lazy or careless, and our flesh is too ready and eager to sin and is disinclined to the spirit of prayer.

“When your heart has be warmed by such recitation to yourself (of The Ten Commandments, the Words of Christ, etc)…Kneel or stand with your hands folded and your eyes towards Heaven and speak or think as briefly as you can.

“O Heavenly Father, dear God, I am a poor, unworthy sinner. I do not deserve to raise my eyes or hands toward You or to pray. But, because You have commanded us all to pray and have promised to hear us and through Your dear Son, Jesus Christ has taught us both how, and what, to pray, I come to You in obedience to Your Word, trusting in Your gracious promises.”

Luther recommended that our prayers be numerous but short in duration. Luther taught that we should pray: “Brief prayers…pregnant with the Spirit, strongly fortified by faith…the fewer the words, the better the prayer. The more the words, the worse the prayer. Few words and much meaning is Christian. Many words and little meaning is pagan.”

The Lord’s Prayer and the Psalms were tools which Luther considered most important for any Christian’s prayer life. “A Christian has prayed abundantly who has rightly prayed the Lord’s Prayer.” The Lord’s Prayer is the model prayer of Christianity and it is not essentially a prayer of one individual, but a common prayer that binds all Christians together, uniting us with all believers, past, present and future, whether in Heaven, or on earth, in a Biblical Kingdom focused prayer.

PRAYING THE PSALMS

Luther taught that praying the Psalms brings us: “into joyful harmony” with God’s Word and God’s Will. “Whoever begins to pray the Psalms earnestly and regularly will soon take leave of those other light and personal little devotional prayers and say, ‘Ah, there is not the juice, the strength, the passion, the fire which you find in the Psalms. Anything else tastes too cold and too hard.’”

STRUCTURE PRAYER

Luther also recommended that we structure our prayers according to The Apostle’s Creed and the Catechism, to connect doctrine and devotion. He also recommended praying according to The Ten Commandments, meditating on each item as instruction, thanksgiving, confession and petition. By meditating on the instruction, giving thanks for the blessings that flow from these principles, confessing where we have personally failed in obeying and applying these commands, and as petition to being able to honour and obey God’s Word in our daily lives, would revive our prayer lives.

SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Luther lived daily exposed to what he called the “Anfectung,” the unbridled, vicious assault of Satan. At times, it seemed as if the whole world was against him, as well as the flesh and the devil. In the midst of this spiritual warfare, Luther’s enriching approach to prayer strengthened him. The Apostle’s Creed, The Lord’s Prayer, The Ten Commandments, The Catechism and the Psalms deepened and focused his prayer life.

In his preface to the “Larger Catechism,” Luther wrote: “We know that our defence lies in prayer. We are too weak to resist the devil and his vassels. Let us hold fast to the weapons of the Christian; they enable us to combat the devil… our enemies may mock at us. But we shall oppose both men and the devil if we maintain ourselves in prayer and if we persist in it.”

OUR FIRST PRIORITY

Luther recommended a set time for personal devotions, early morning or at night, and warned against postponing them for any “more urgent business.”

FLINT FOR THE FLAMES

He thought that one should see The Ten Commandments as a school textbook, a songbook, a penitential book, and as a prayer book. He advised that that one take The Ten Commandments as one’s structure for prayer on one day, a Psalm or a chapter of the Holy Scripture for another day, and use them “as flint and steel to kindle a flame in the heart.”

PRAYING THE LORD’S PRAYER

“A Simple Way To Pray” gives some examples of the intercessions Luther was inspired to pray on the basis of The Lord’s Prayer: “Hallowed be Thy Name. Yes, Lord God, dear Father, Hallowed be Your Name, both in us and throughout the whole world. Destroy and root out the abominations, idolatry and heresy of all false teachers and fanatics who wrongly use Your Name and in scandalous ways take it in vain and horribly blaspheme it…Dear Lord God, convert and restrain them… restrain those who are unwilling to be converted so that they may be forced to cease from misusing, defiling and dishonoring Your Holy Name and for misleading the poor people. Amen.

“Thy Kingdom Come. O dear Lord, God and Father, convert them and defend us… so that they with us and we with them may serve You and Your Kingdom in true faith and unfeigned love and that from Your Kingdom which has begun, we may enter into Your eternal Kingdom. Defend us against those who will not turn away their might and power for the destruction of Your Kingdom so that when they are cast down from their thrones and humbled, they will have to cease from their efforts. Amen.

“Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. O dear Lord, God and Father, You know that the world, if it cannot destroy Your Name or root our Your Kingdom, is busy day and night with wicked tricks and schemes, strange conspiracies and intrigues, huddled together in secret counsel, giving mutual encouragement and support, raging and threatening and going about with every evil intention to destroy Your Name, Word, Kingdom and children… for Your sake gladly, patiently and joyously enable us to bear every evil, cross and adversity, and thereby acknowledge, test and experience Your benign, gracious and perfect Will…

“Give us this day our daily bread. Protect us against war and disorder. Grant to all rulers’ good counsel and a will to preserve their subjects in tranquility and justice. O God, grant that all people be diligent and display charity and loyalty towards each other. Give us favourable weather and good harvests…

“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. O dear Lord, God and Father, enter not into judgment against us because no person living is justified before You. Do not counter it against us as a sin that we are so unthankful for Your ineffable goodness, spiritual and physical, with that we stray so many times each day. Do not look upon how good or how wicked we have been but only upon the infinite compassion, which You have bestowed upon us in Christ, Your dear Son. Amen. Also, grant forgiveness to those who have harmed or wronged us, as we forgive them from our hearts…we would much rather that they be saved with us. Amen

“Lead us not into temptation. Keep us fit and alert, eager and diligent in Your Word and service, so that we do not become complacent, lazy and slothful as though we had already achieved everything. In that way the fearful devil cannot fall upon us, surprise us and deprive us from of Your precious Word or store up strife and factions among us and lead us into other sin and disgrace…

“And deliver us from evil. This wretched life is so full of misery and calamity, of danger and uncertainty, so full of malice and faithlessness… but You, dear Father, know our frailty. Therefore help us to pass safety through so much wickedness and villainy…”

WARM WHOLEHEARTED WORSHIP

Luther warned: “I do not want you to recite all these words in your prayer. That would make it nothing but idle chatter and prattle. Rather do I want your heart to be stirred and guided concerning the thoughts, which ought to be comprehended, in The Lord’s Prayer. These thoughts may be expressed, if your heart is rightly warmed and inclined toward prayer, in many different ways than with more words or fewer… listen in silence, and under no circumstances obstruct them. The Holy Spirit Himself preaches here, and one Word of His sermon is far better than a thousand of our prayers. Many times I have learnt more from one prayer than I might have learned from much reading and speculation.”

He warned against: “A cold and inattentive heart”, teaching that prayer required “the full attention of all one’s senses and members… concentration and singleness of heart…”

SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE

Luther taught that in praying through The Ten Commandments “I think of each Command as first, instruction , which is really what it is intended to be and consider what the Lord demands of me so earnestly. Second, I turn it into a thanksgivin g; third a confession ; and fourth a prayer .”

He taught the importance of Spiritual disciplines, including solitude, silence, listening, meditation, journaling, praying and obeying.

DEEPER DEVOTION

May God be gracious to use the example and teachings of Martin Luther to revive our prayer lives, to discipline, sharpen and focus our prayers in a Biblical and Kingdom focused way. As we work through The Lord’s Prayer, The Ten Commandments, The Apostle’s Creed, The Psalms and The Catechisms, may the Lord be merciful to revive our prayer lives, deepen our devotional lives, and use us more effectively for the extension of His Kingdom and for His eternal glory.

Educating Ourselves into Imbecility

". . . [I]t has become abundantly clear in the second half of the twentieth century that Western Man has decided to abolish himself. Having wearied of the struggle to be himself, he has created

his own boredom out of his own affluence,
his own impotence out of his own erotomania,
his own vulnerability out of his own strength;

himself blowing the trumpet that brings the walls of his own city tumbling down, and, in a process of auto-genocide, convincing himself that he is too numerous, and labouring accordingly with pill and scalpel and syringe to make himself fewer in order to be an easier prey for his enemies; until at last, having educated himself into imbecility, and polluted and drugged himself into stupefaction, he keels over a weary, battered old brontosaurus and becomes extinct."

Malcolm Muggeridge

The Incarnation by DA Carson

Before there was a universe,

Before a star or planet,

When time had still not yet begun --

I scarcely understand it --

Th' eternal Word was with his God,

God's very Self-Expression;

Th' eternal Word was God himself --

And God had planned redemption.

The Word became our flesh and blood --

The stuff of his creation --

The Word was God, the Word was flesh,

Astounding incarnation!

But when he came to visit us,

We did not recognize him.

Although we owed him everything

We haughtily despised him.

In days gone by God showed himself

In grace and truth to Moses;

But in the Word of God made flesh

Their climax he discloses.

For grace and truth in fullness came

And showed the Father's glory

When Jesus donned our flesh and died:

This is the gospel story.

All who delighted in his name,

All those who did receive him,

All who by grace were born of God,

All who in truth believed him --

To them he gave a stunning right:

Becoming God's dear children!

Here will I stay in grateful trust;

Here will I fix my vision.

Before there was a universe,

Before a star or planet,

When time had still not yet begun --

I scarcely understand it --

Th' eternal Word was with his God,

God's very Self-Expression;

Th' eternal Word was God himself --

And God had planned redemption.

Puritan Poem and Prayer

O God of grace,

Thou hast imputed my sin to my substitute,
and hast imputed his righteousness to my soul,
clothing me with a bridegroom’s robe,
decking me with jewels of holiness.

But in my Christian walk I am still in rags;
my best prayers are stained with sin;
my penitential tears are so much impurity;
my confessions of wrong are so many aggravations of sin;
my receiving the Spirit is tinctured with selfishness.

I need to repent of my repentance;
I need my tears to be washed;
I have no robe to bring to cover my sins,
no loom to weave my own righteousness;

I am always standing clothed in filthy garments,
and by grace am always receiving change of raiment,
for thou dost always justify the ungodly;

I am always going into the far country,
and always returning home as a prodigal,
always saying, Father, forgive me,
and thou art always bringing forth
the best robe.

Every morning let me wear it,
every evening return in it,
go out to the day’s work in it,
be married in it,
be wound in death in it,
stand before the great white throne in it,
enter heaven in it shining as the sun.

Grant me never to lose sight of
the exceeding sinfulness of sin,
the exceeding righteousness of salvation,
the exceeding glory of Christ,
the exceeding beauty of holiness,
the exceeding wonder of grace.

Arm Yourself with the Bible

Bishop J C Ryle in his candid fashion asks: Do you use your Bible as much as you ought?

You live in a world where your soul is in constant danger. Enemies are round you on every side. Your own heart is deceitful. Bad examples are numerous. Satan is always laboring to lead you astray. Above all false doctrine and false teachers of every kind abound. This is your great danger.

To be safe you must be well armed. You must provide yourself with the weapons which God has given you for your help. You must store your mind with Holy Scripture. This is to be well armed.

Arm yourself with a thorough knowledge of the written word of God. Read your Bible regularly. Become familiar with your Bible. . . . Neglect your Bible and nothing that I know of can prevent you from error if a plausible advocate of false teaching shall happen to meet you. Make it a rule to believe nothing except it can be proved from Scripture. The Bible alone is infallible. . . . Do you really use your Bible as much as you ought?

There are many today, who believe the Bible, yet read it very little. Does your conscience tell you that you are one of these persons?

If so, you are the man that is likely to get little help from the Bible in time of need. Trial is a sifting experience. . . . Your store of Bible consolations may one day run very low.

If so, you are the man that is unlikely to become established in the truth. I shall not be surprised to hear that you are troubled with doubts and questions about assurance, grace, faith, perseverance, etc. The devil is an old and cunning enemy. He can quote Scripture readily enough when he pleases. Now you are not sufficiently ready with your weapons to fight a good fight with him. . . . Your sword is held loosely in your hand.

If so, you are the man that is likely to make mistakes in life. I shall not wonder if I am told that you have problems in your marriage, problems with your children, problems about the conduct of your family and about the company you keep. The world you steer through is full of rocks, shoals and sandbanks. You are not sufficiently familiar either with lighthouses or charts.

If so, you are the man who is likely to be carried away by some false teacher for a time. It will not surprise me if I hear that one of these clever eloquent men who can make a convincing presentation is leading you into error. You are in need of ballast (truth); no wonder if you are tossed to and fro like a cork on the waves.

All these are uncomfortable situations. I want you to escape them all. Take the advice I offer you today. Do not merely read your Bible a little—but read it a great deal. . . . Remember your many enemies. Be armed!